MLive partnered with the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Michigan to provide a voter guide for readers. Each candidate was asked to outline their stance on public policy issues, listed below.
Jack Bergman has represented the district since 2017. Republican candidates Matthew DenOtter, and Justin Michal are challenging the incumbent on the Aug. 4 primary ballot.
Candidates Callie Barr, who faced Bergman in the 2024 election, Kyle Blomquist and Wayne Stiles are vying for the Democrat position in the primary.
Republican candidates Bergman, DenOtter and Michal did not fill out the candidate questionnaire or respond to multiple requests from MLive to fill it out prior to publication.
All responses in the voter guide were submitted directly by the candidate and have not been edited by the League of Women Voters or MLive, except for necessary cuts if a reply exceeded character limitations. Spelling and grammar were not corrected.
Publication of candidate statements and opinions is solely in the interest of public service and should NOT be considered as an endorsement. The League never supports or opposes any candidates or political parties.
ON HEALTHCARE:
What specific steps will you take in Congress to address healthcare affordability, access and quality for the people you represent?
Callie Barr
Healthcare should be affordable and accessible for everyone - I will fight for universal healthcare. I will fight to repeal Medicaid cuts that threaten rural hospitals and nursing homes and extend ACA subsidies to keep coverage affordable. I support a strong public option so everyone can see a doctor without worrying about the bill. We must lower prescription drug costs by allowing Medicare to negotiate prices, require transparency in healthcare pricing, and reform insurance companies that deny needed care. Finally, I will fully fund the VA, end harmful staffing cuts, and ensure veterans receive the timely, quality care they earned.
Kyle Blomquist
I will work to pass Medicare for All so that we can finally join the rest of the developed world in providing universal healthcare to every American; eliminating our uniquely cruel for-profit health insurance system, which results in rampant claim denial, care avoidance, and medical debt. Medicare for All also reforms Medicare to eliminate the need to expensive supplements, and finally covers every American from birth to death. I will also work to fund public clinics to fill rural healthcare gaps where private healthcare systems have deemed my neighbors’ care unprofitable.
Wayne Stiles
Healthcare must serve patients, not corporate monopolies. I support restoring a strong Public Option to increase competition and lower costs. We should use the federal government’s buying power to reduce prescription drug prices and allow insurance competition across state lines. In rural Northern Michigan, expanding telehealth requires major investment in fiberoptic broadband. Where corporate hospital systems have consolidated and abandoned rural communities, I support federally operated hospitals and care facilities to restore local access to emergency, senior, and mental health care. The long-term goal should be universal healthcare.
ON THE ECONOMY:
What policy initiatives do you support for residents to earn a living wage and address the overall question of affordability across Michigan?
Callie Barr
I am running on an Affordable LIFE. I oppose policies that cause gas and food prices to skyrocket. For jobs, I support investments in small businesses, protecting the right to organize (PRO Act), and investing in apprenticeship and workforce training programs. To address affordability, I support universal healthcare, lowering prescription drug costs, increase the supply of affordable housing, reduce childcare expenses, and protect Social Security and Medicare. I will also support tax policies that reward work rather than wealth, ensuring working families—not billionaires and large corporations—benefit from economic growth.
Kyle Blomquist
I believe in mandating Living wages and Paid Time Off for all American workers. I support a Federal Jobs Guarantee and a Green New Deal, which would redirect funding away from our oversized military budget and towards putting Americans to work rebuilding infrastructure and providing services at home. I would attack affordability with programs like Medicare for All, repealing the Faircloth amendment to provide quality, affordable public housing to all that need it, and enforcing and strengthening existing anti-trust law to break up monopolies and impose price-controls to combat price gouging across all industries and markets.
Wayne Stiles
The best social program ever invented is a good-paying job. Northern Michigan’s economy depends on manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, tourism, shipping, and outdoor recreation. I support expanding skilled trades and apprenticeship programs, rebuilding roads and ports, protecting family farms, and bringing reliable high-speed internet to every rural community in MI-01. We must prioritize small businesses over multinational corporations while lowering everyday costs through affordable housing, lower prescription drug prices, and practical energy policies that keep utility costs affordable.
ON THE ENVIRONMENT & ENERGY:
How would you approach ensuring energy reliability, consumer affordability and environmental protection in Michigan?
Callie Barr
Michigan needs an energy strategy that is reliable, affordable, and responsible. I support an all-of-the-above approach that includes renewables and existing energy sources while modernizing our electric grid and expanding domestic energy production. We must lower utility costs for families, invest in energy efficiency, and strengthen infrastructure. At the same time, we must protect the Great Lakes, support responsible environmental stewardship, and create good-paying jobs in clean energy, manufacturing, and infrastructure so Michigan can lead in both economic growth and environmental protection.
Kyle Blomquist
In order to improve our energy reliability we must modernize our energy infrastructure and invest in renewable energy sources. Addressing consumer affordability requires elected leaders who are willing to break up utility monopolies, pass federal legislation creating more powerful consumer protections against utility price gouging, and public investment in green energy infrastructure, resulting in publicly owned utilities and further eroding corporate control over energy markets. Environmental protection must happen at all levels of government through robust investment, oversight, and accountability. The great lakes region must be protected.
Wayne Stiles
Northern Michigan needs an all-of-the-above energy strategy that keeps power reliable, affordable, and American-made. I support expanding wind, hydroelectric, propane, natural gas, and next-generation renewable energy while modernizing the electric grid and protecting the Great Lakes. Nuclear energy can continue to play a limited role where it is safe and cost-effective. Rural families should not bear the burden of policies that dramatically raise utility bills. We must protect our forests, water, and outdoor economy while ensuring dependable and affordable energy for homes, farms, and businesses.
ON IMMIGRATION
What is your position on due process, First Amendment, and Fourth Amendment rights for all Michigan residents, including noncitizens, and what changes, if any, would you support?
Callie Barr
The Constitution protects fundamental rights, including due process, free speech, and protection from unreasonable searches and seizures. These rights are essential to our democracy and must be upheld. I support secure borders, an orderly immigration system, and enforcement of our laws, but I also believe government must follow the Constitution. No one should be denied due process or have their rights violated by government action. I support comprehensive immigration reform that strengthens border security, modernizes legal immigration pathways, and ensures fair, efficient, and lawful procedures.
Kyle Blomquist
All constitutional rights including those enshrined in the first and fourth amendment should apply to every resident of our country, including those non-citizens. I support the repeal of the Laken Riley act, which undermined due-process rights based on citizenship status.
Wayne Stiles
America can have secure borders and still respect the Constitution. Due process, free speech, and protection from unlawful searches apply to everyone — citizens and noncitizens alike. I support targeted immigration enforcement focused on violent criminals and trafficking, not political theater or mass fear tactics. ICE needs real oversight, clear constitutional standards, and realistic budgeting so taxpayers know the agency is focused on public safety, not violating rights or wasting resources.
MLive / League of Women Voters guide
Compare candidates and proposal information for the Aug. 4 primary with our online voter guide, a partnership between MLive and the League of Women Voters. Click the link: Vote411.org/Michigan.
DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY FOR SENATE
Here’s what the League of Women Voters reports in regards to the Democratic Primary for US Senate:
GENERAL BIO:
Why are you running for Senate?
Abdul El-Sayed
I was born and raised in SE Michigan by my dad, Mohamed, an Egyptian immigrant, and my stepmom, Jackie, whose family has lived in Gratiot County since the 1800s. I graduated from the University of Michigan, earned an MD at Columbia, and a PhD from Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. I trained as a doctor, but came to see that it was our politics making people sick. That led me to public service. I led both Detroit and Wayne County’s Health Departments, where we secured free glasses for kids and spearheaded a program to eliminate medical debt for thousands of Michiganders. I’m running for US Senate because life in Michigan shouldn’t be this hard–and it doesn’t have to be. Our campaign focuses on guaranteeing healthcare through Medicare for All, making life more affordable by empowering unions and small businesses, and banning corporate money from politics. Our goal isn’t just to win this election, but to change our politics through a movement of Michiganders who believe in the American government as it was meant to be: of the people, by the people, and for the people.
Haley Stevens
Michigan needs a fighter who gets things done for our state. I am the most effective Michigan Democrat in Congress, and I’ve been fighting Donald Trump’s abuses of power and working to lower costs.
Having walked nearly 200 manufacturing floors with workers and business owners as part of my ‘Manufacturing Monday’ program, I know what Michigan workers and Michigan’s economy need. That’s what I’ve been working on since my time as Chief of Staff on President Obama’s auto rescue, where I was the only Michigander on the team. Delivering for Michigan means protecting manufacturing, like my work to bring semiconductor production back to Michigan, and protecting auto jobs by keeping Chinese cars out of U.S. markets. It means investing in education, like my Building Blocks of STEM Act to help underserved communities access STEM education, and lowering health care costs by impeaching RFK Jr., restoring Trump’s cuts to Medicaid, fighting back against Trump’s attacks on Social Security and Medicare, and standing up to Trump when he abuses his power and deploys the military on U.S. citizens.
LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS:
How and to what extent would you negotiate and compromise with your colleagues to pass critical legislation?
Abdul El-Sayed
I will work with anyone who is serious about delivering real results for working people. I’ll fight for bipartisan solutions that actually move us forward, like reforms to speed up clean energy projects, but only if they protect workers, uphold strong labor standards, and put communities first. I know that bipartisan deals can make progress, but I will never trade away our core values or the needs of working people just to please corporate interests.
Because my campaign refuses all corporate PAC money, I am accountable only to the voters, not special interests. I will not back down on defending fundamental freedoms like civil rights, reproductive freedom, LGBTQ+ rights, and workers’ rights. I will fiercely protect the programs that keep people afloat, like Social Security and Medicare, and oppose any cuts. To break the gridlock caused by outdated rules like the filibuster, I support real reform so we can finally pass the laws working people need. I believe in principled negotiation—finding common ground without ever abandoning the people I serve.
Haley Stevens
It is my job to deliver results for Michiganders - and Michigan’s working families can’t afford to wait decades for change. I’m proud to have been named Michigan’s most effective House Democrat, and I earned that recognition by finding common ground and working with people of both parties to get things done.
I also believe that under this administration, with Trump wreaking havoc on our institutions and chipping away at our freedoms, there are times when it’s my job to hold fast to our Democratic values and not give an inch. That’s the kind of leadership that Michigan voters continue to ask for and the kind of approach I take to delivering tangible results for them in Washington.
ON IMMIGRATION:
What recommendations, if any, would you propose to change U.S. Immigration Policy?
Abdul El-Sayed
Our current immigration system treats any and all immigrants as threats rather than with dignity and respect. I believe in a safe and secure border and a clear pathway to citizenship. I support the Dream Act, the SECURE Act, and protecting birthright citizenship. I have called for abolishing ICE since 2018 because it has become a paramilitary force weaponized at the whims of the executive branch to terrorize communities.
We must rebuild our approach to border enforcement so it actually keeps people safe instead of criminalizing immigrants, while investing in legal infrastructure to support clear pathways to citizenship. We must fully fund asylum and refugee programs and end discrimination based on religion or nationality, period, and stand up for immigrant workers by reforming guest worker programs to stop exploitation, holding corporations accountable when they abuse people.
Haley Stevens
Donald Trump’s ICE is out of control and requires an immediate, drastic, and transparent overhaul that ensures accountability and prosecution for wrongdoing. Trump’s ICE agents killed two American citizens in broad daylight, and they are putting more Americans in danger every day. I pushed to impeach then-Secretary Kristi Noem and remove her from office. My plan to reform ICE is this:
-Require ICE agents to identify themselves and take off their masks, wear body cameras, and be held to the same standards as local law enforcement.
-Redirect the $75 billion slush fund Donald Trump gave ICE to our communities and give it to state and local law enforcement.
-Create a Special Prosecutor to investigate misconduct by ICE agents and hold them accountable for crimes they commit.
We must secure our border and fix our broken immigration system through the passage of comprehensive immigration reform. This includes taking steps like supporting our Dreamers and creating a secure immigration system.
ON HEALTH CARE
What policies, if any, will you advance regarding reproductive health care?
Abdul El-Sayed
No politician or government should ever stand between you and your doctor. Every person has the right to make their own decisions about their body and healthcare, including reproductive care. In the Senate, I’ll fight to guarantee reproductive freedom by making Roe v. Wade the law of the land. I’ll proudly cosponsor the Women’s Health Protection Act and stand against any attempt to ban abortion nationwide. I’ll work to ensure everyone can access abortion, contraception, and fertility treatments—without cost standing in the way—by supporting Medicare for All.
I’ll fight to repeal the Hyde Amendment and pass the EACH Act, because reproductive freedom shouldn’t depend on your income or where you live. I’ll defend funding for providers like Planned Parenthood, stop taxpayer dollars from going to fake clinics, and address the maternal mortality crisis by supporting community health workers and doulas. I will only support judges who will protect your reproductive rights.
Haley Stevens
The federal government has a responsibility to protect fundamental rights and ensure that access to health care does not depend on your zip code.
I believe Congress should establish a national standard for reproductive health care. That standard should be the protections that existed under Roe v. Wade before Republicans stripped them away: the right for women to make their own health care decisions in consultation with their doctors, free from political interference.
Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe, we’ve seen women denied emergency care and doctors threatened with prosecution. A woman’s fundamental freedoms should not change the moment she crosses a state line. That’s why when I make it to the Senate, I will fight to pass the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would restore Roe’s protections nationwide and safeguard access to abortion care, contraception, and other reproductive health services.
- - - REMINDER - - -
MICHIGAN PRIMARIES AUGUST 4
MIDTERMS NOVEMBER 3
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The effort to recall Victoria Bishop continues to move forward.
Ashley Areeda made an eloquent appeal to the Michigan Board of Canvassers on July 24, 2024 to approve proposed recall petition language. However, the Board deadlocked after reviewing objections raised by Bishop’s attorney. The Committee to Recall Victoria Bishop is resubmitting with revised language which they believe will be accepted. Petition circulation should be occurring by late summer.
In the meantime, it is important to get as many people as possible to pledge to sign the petition. People who pledge to sign will receive a text message when and where the petitions will be available to sign. The solicitors will have only 60 days to collect 4,500 signatures of Antrim voters.
Please help by filling out this form and forwarding this newsletter to everyone you know in Antrim County asking them to do the same. This will only happen if EVERYONE (meaning you) does their share. It is easy and quick !
LASTLY . . .
Michael Kryton is a YouTube AI video creator. Check out his rousing musical number, found on Facebook, from our living former Presidents, reminding us all that the best way to get out of this tRumpian nightmare is to VOTE!
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“Never forget this: The forces undermining our democracy, rigging our economy, polluting our planet, and stoking hatred are counting on you to give up. Cynicism is how they win.”
Antrim County Democratic Party/Michigan
Chairperson: Veronica Welter, Chair@antrimdems.com
Website: antrimdems.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AntrimCountyDemocraticParty/
Volume #11. ANTRIM DEMS NEWSLETTER, WRITTEN AND ASSEMBLED BY ALLEN WOLF, JIM BLACK, AND SALLIE FOLEY.
QUESTIONS/COMMENTS CAN BE DIRECTED TO SFOLEY@ANTRIMDEMS.COM